Piano Lessons
by BecauseHeroesNeverDie
Summary: Roxas never wanted to play the piano until he met Naminé. This summary is beyond terrible, but how many people can write wonderful, amazing, snatch-your-attention-from-the-very-very-begining summaries? Just do yourself a favor, and don't read this.
1. A mystery melody and an enigmatic girl

Roxas bustled toward the Boy's Dorms. He wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible.  
His day at college had been absolute murder. He was just coming back from many torturous hours trapped in the Campus library. Every teacher seemed to have decided the best way to end the day before winter break (the glorious two week long vacation the teaching community generously gave to the student body every year) was to give each and every student a pile of work the size of a full grown quarter horse. Roxas decided he wanted to get all his work done and not have to work over break. He was so tired he swore he was going to pass out right there on the street. He broke into a run at the street corner. Then he stopped dead.

There was a noise coming from the music hall. He stood there a while, trying to decipher the sound. It was... music.

WOW! It was music! The most beautiful sound he'd heard in his life. Someone was singing and playing at the piano. If the voice wasn't so sweet, the beauty of it would almost hurt. Who was singing? He had to know.

"Roxas, you're crazy," he laughed at himself. Why was he acting like this? He didn't even like music, all that much. His major wasn't even close to music! But, then again he couldn't help it . It was amazing! It just filled him with joy. He just felt like singing along! And he didn't even know the song!

He stepped forward. He began to walk toward the hall. He took a small shaky step toward the door. His hand stretched toward the handle and he opened the door. Simple enough.

"Hello! Anyone here!?" He called out to the wide open area. It was completely...empty?

"Hello?" His voice echoed off the walls. He turned to leave. But, there was another door.  
And, still the music. The angelic voice carried on her tone. She seemed to have started a new song.  
The piano melody flowed and eventually she started to sing.

_chiisa na koto de daiji na mono wo ushinatta tsumetai yubiwa ga watashi ni hikattemiseta "ima sae areba ii" to itta kedo sou ja nakatta anata e tsuzuku doa ga oto mo naku kieta_

Roxas walked through the doorway. This place is kinda creepy, he thought. It was so large and spacey. The effect was mostly from the amount of space, but the the space created the great acoustics.That made up for the unusual amount of space. But what really bothered him was the fact that there were no lights on.

_anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo soredemo anata wo hikitometai itsu datte sou dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ko ga naiteru yo sono mama tobira no oto wa naranai_

He walked into the room. A small light shone in the corner. It was slightly obscured by the petite figure hunched over the piano fingering away at the keys. He plunked down on the seat nearest the enterence, he didn't want to interrupt a genius at work.

_minna ni hitsuyou to sareru kimi wo iyaseru tatta hitori ni naritakute sukoshi gaman shi sugita na_

She stopped abruptly and looked over at him.

"Excuse me. I don't want to sound rude or anything, but -"

"Why am I here?" He could feel red blush creeping up on his cheeks. This was sorta embarrassing...

The shadowy figure nodded. "Exactly", she whispered softly.

"I heard the music and it was so...so- beautiful", He felt his face further burning."Could you- could you.  
p-p-please...please... continue. What is that song, anyway?"

"It's a favorite of mine. It's called Dareka No Negai Ga Kanau Koro by Utada Hikaru." She informed him.

"It's pretty. Can you start where you left off?" He inquired nervously.

"Sure. I've never really had an audience before. Why don't you come over here?" She patted the space on the piano bench next to her.

Roxas reddened considerably more. "U..m..uhhhhhhhhh...A-are ya s-sure...?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Realization hit her. "Oh, you're embarrassed about walking in on me"  
She paused for a second. "That. That sounded awkward, didn't it?"

"Yep." They both laughed. She had a pretty laugh, Roxas observed. Like, a bell, almost.  
Wait a second...He didn't know her name. Wow. He felt like an idiot. Better late than never, he thought.  
"Hey, what's your name?"

"Naminé. And you, what's yours?"

"Roxas." Nothing special. Naminé. What a beautiful name!

"Roxas," Naminé whispered softly. Then her voice grew louder,"Don't you want to here the rest?"

"Of course, I'd love to hear it!" He answered without hesitation.

"Come over here." Naminé quietly said as she began to play that lovely melancholy song again.

"OK," he walked toward the piano. Soon he reached the bench and sat softly down upon the seat.  
The piano light illuminated her face. She had brilliant golden-colored blonde hair. Her face was thin and pale. She concentrated heavily, lost completely in the song.

_jibun no shiawase negau koto wagamama dewa nai desho sore nara anata wo dakiyosetai dekiru dake gyutto watashi no namida ga kawaku koro ano ko ga naiteru yo kono mama bokura no jimen wa kawakanai_

_anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo anata wa watashi wo hikitometai itsu datte sou dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ko ga naiteru yo minna no negai wa douji ni wa kanawanai_

_chiisa na chikyuu ga mawaru hodo yasashisa mi ni tsuku yo mou ichidido anata wo dakishimetai dekiru dake sutto_

The tempo slowly decreased, leading to the end. Her voice grew quiet as she finished.

Naminé turned to Roxas and smiled. She had a heavenly smiled and her eyes were a bright sky-blue.

"What did you think of that song?" She asked, her eyes growing wide in expectation of the answer.

"I loved it! What was it about?" He was curious to know what such a beautiful song could be saying. He didn't recognize the language, but he felt he'd heard it before...somewhere. Why did he even care? He didn't really like music, but it seemed to touch him. It was really hard for him to explain it, even to himself.

"It's sort of hard to explain. It's about love, I guess and about who's happiness is more important, and selfishness and losing something you love. Or, at least that's what it says to me."

"How do you play and sing like that? So...so- beautifully?" Roxas wondered. It was beyond his belief that something so complicated in it's sound could come from just her fingers gently taping the keys. There must be something to it.

"Oh, just practice and hard work. I'm actually not that great." She replied, modestly.

"No way! You sound amazing!" Roxas returned.

"Not really. I'm just an amateur. I haven't been playing very long. Just since I was about 14."

"Here I'll prove it. Teach me to play this. I'll sound terrible." Roxas had never played a piano in his life. He obviously not going to sound well.

"OK. Here." She picked up his hands in hers and gently draped them over the keys. She pointed at the sheet music placed over the keyboard. "You see that note?" She pointed at the beginning of the music.

"Uh, huh." Roxas nodded.

"OK. You see all these specks on the paper? Most of them are notes. And notes make up measures, and the measures make up the song. All the pieces go together, and make up this beautiful thing we call music. Sort of like people. Made up of so many layers. So intricate. Each beautiful, if you look and listen carefully and long enough. Got it?" Naminé smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling and radiating with the light of her joy.

"Yeah.. So.. that means each note is important, and together with everything else it makes up a song."  
Roxas questioned carefully.

"Yep." Naminé beamed.

"So how does this measure go?" This was probably where Roxas would get completely lost.

"Humm, maybe we should do an easier song. This may be a little too hard for you." Naminé frowned.

"That's OK, I sorta like this song." Roxas defended.

"Fine then." She flicked her fingers over a few keys. "You play those first."

"OK," Roxas mumbled. He tried them out. It didn't sound right. He tried again. "Wait a sec, don't I have to learn those scale things, and some other stuff first."

"Yeah," Naminé giggled uncertainly and went red in the piano board light. "As you can see I'm not a good teacher at all. I just don't know where to start!"

Roxas looked around the room. It was rather dark out there. Must be 12 O'clock, by the looks of it.  
"Maybe we should stop now. Are you staying here for break?" He was. There really wasn't anywhere to go.  
His parents were divorced and all both of them wanted to do was complain about the other. In short, they were annoying and he really didn't want to deal with it.

Naminé grew very still and even quieter than she'd been all this time. After a long pause she spoke up.  
"No, I'm not going to go anywhere." There was a note of sorrow in her voice. She sounded a little upset.

"Are you OK?" He asked, genuinely concerned. He'd help in any way he could. If only he knew what was wrong...

"Nothing," Naminé choked out. Was she...crying? Her head collapsed into her hands, banging her elbows on the key board. It emitted a sour tone.

"Sure?" Roxas didn't want to see her cry, but what could he do? He'd only met her today! He reached out to touch her lightly on the shoulder. She shook slightly under his fingertips.

"Why- d-don't you...come back tomorrow? I can teach you a little...more later. Come in morning..." Naminé's muffled voice cried out from under her fingers. Her honey-yellow hair splayed out around her shoulders, far out of the neat position over her shoulder it had rested the whole time. "Early...Maybe 6:30. I'll be here."

"Alright, but are you sure your OK? I could get you back to your dorm?" Roxas was really unsure of what to do. Maybe, Naminé didn't want him to be here. It might be bothering her. He was practically a stranger. She didn't know anything about him. And he didn't know anything about her, either.

"That's alright. Don't bother I'll get back, by myself." She moaned.

_What was Roxas going to do?!_

Nothing, that's what he did. Absolutely nothing. He just walked out and left sending a remorseful glance back at the depressed figure hunched over the piano. He was such an idiot. What if she got hurt? Kidnapped? Ran over by a car going far too fast to know anybody was in front of them? Murdered? Roxas gulped. That sort of stuff happened on collage campuses all the time. He couldn't live with himself if somebody died and it was all his fault. Especially somebody like Naminé.

WHAT was he thinking?! He barely even knew her! He didn't know her at ALL, actually. It was ridiculous to be like this. Was this love? He was such a loser. He'd never even been on a date!

Roxas sighed deeply, his breath coming out in white, cloudy billows as it hit the cold air of winter's dark mantle of night. He looked up at the sky. Sparkling stars spangled the dark banner of night. The winter sky had the most beautiful stars.

Roxas tore himself from the amazing sky view and continued to walk. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jean jacket and tried not to think too much.

Once he almost turned the corner, he looked back and saw a slight silhouette leaving the music hall and going the way opposite him.

He quickly reached his destination. He pulled out his key and slid it into the door. Roxas carefully opened the door and slipped in.

"Whatcha doing? Some one as unpopular as you shouldn't be out this late. What Happened?"  
Axel, Roxas' roommate and one of his best friends, teased lightly. He reclined on a chair in front of the room's much fought over TV. "I had about two hours of free TV time without you or Demyx coming in and changing it to something lame show, that anyone in their right mind wouldn't watch."

"Well I was just going by the music hall and- I met this amazing girl!" He looked toward Axel.

"Do tell," He nodded, waving at Roxas to continue. Roxas soon found himself spilling out the whole of his day's events. Axel listened thoughtfully through the whole thing.

"Roxas has finally got himself a girlfriend!" Axel laughed.

"You don't get my point, do you? I think I made her upset. I don't know what to do!" Roxas let out a sigh of frustration. Axel wasn't going to be serious at all.

"You're going over there tomorrow, aren't you?" He offered.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas replied.

"Then that's perfect, don'tcha see? You can just fix up what's wrong and- WHAM- you finally have yourself a girlfriend!"

"No, I don't see! Come on! How can I do anything?! I barely even know her!" Roxas' frustration blew over the top. He just didn't get it. _What_ was even going on? _Why _did he even care so much!?

The door opened and Demyx came in.

"Howz it goin'?" He called cheerfully.

"Roxas is all depressed about this girl he met only _today_!" Axel summarized.

"What's wrong?" Demyx inquired, turning to Roxas. Roxas began to once again recount today's events. Demyx listened. He actually looked very concerned.

"I think that you should just get some sleep, and then go over to the music hall, just like she said. If she invites you to anymore, then go. Just wait awhile. Get to know her a little. Then, as kindly as possible, ask if she's OK, by then she might be alright by then. Try not to say anything too touchy, it might make things worse. Never EVER try to pry anything from her." Demyx offered.

"That's ingenious! Thanks Demyx!" Roxas thanked him. "I think I'll go to bed now guys,  
I'm kinda tired." He walked past them, plopping straight down onto the bed. He'd only just realized how so very tired he was. His mind buzzed and twittered, filled to the brim with thoughts.  
He forced his eyes shut. He would've been awake for hours, but he was so completely burned out. As soon as, he closed his eyes he drifted off to sleep.


	2. The pain never fades

_Welcome to my little Author's corner: I do believe this story is going to have a very different ending from what I originally intended. And that's all I have for today! Happy reading! I hope you enjoy chapter two! _

Naminé's tears glided down her pale cheeks and dripped onto the keys below her.

_Why did she have to cry so much?_

Naminé wiped her tears off the keys, only to have to wipe them off once again. Oh-no. She'd gotten herself into crying "mode", and the way she was, it was going to take a while to get out of it again. She sighed, an other tear dripping down onto the piano. She closed her eyes, shaking her head. Naminé tried to make her thoughts go blank.

_Don't think about it and you won't cry..._

Are you staying here for break? That was all Roxas had said. Why'd she always have to break down so easily, and so hard? He didn't know anything. He didn't mean to hit a soft spot. It shouldn't have bothered her so much.

Poor Roxas... He probably thought he'd done something. But it wasn't HIS fault she cried so much. She didn't want to cry. He'd actually made her feel happier than she had in a while. Nobody (save the music teacher, but it was his job to see to the talents of each of his students), nobody had ever cared (or was curious enough), to just see where the music (the piano music that so ofen played hours and hours through the night), came from. Everyone just went about there bussiness and forgot all about the "phantom pianist", Kairi jokingly called her on nights she stayed in the Hall for hours, coming back late in the night or in the wee hours of the morning.They both wondered (and were certain) that some of the campus ghost legends of the past year (involving a piano that played "by itself" into the deep black night) and reports of "sightings" were all caused by Naminé's exessive habit of playing the piano for hours on end.

People who left campus for break had somewhere to go...and she didn't. She had nowhere to go. That's were the pain and the tears came from. Where they always did. She swipped at her eyes, dabbing away the wetness.

Nowhere to go. Nobody to go to. She was almost all alone. _Almost,_ but not quiet.  
She had to say that she was glad she had somebody with her through everything. Her sister. Her best friend. The closest person to her. All that was left of their family.

Shoes taped across the floor. A figure stepped toward her.

"Roxas?" She asked.

"No, just me. Mr.J." Her music teacher. He smiled. "You always seem so lonely. I'm glad you have a friend. Are you going to visit your family or something? Maybe you should leave for a bit. You know, take a break?"

"I'd visit. But there're all **dead**!" She took flight from the room, whipping away more tears as they streaked and poured down her face. She slammed the door behind her.

He didn't know. It wasn't his fault. She never talked to people about her personal life. Why did she always over-react? But, **COME ON**, he had to have seen she'd been (and still was) crying.  
Stop! Stop it! She snapped at herself. She had to stop that train of thought before it continued. Blaming it on other people wasn't right. She knew that.

She ran into the cold night, heading toward the apartment she shared with her sister, Kairi. She figured she should just go home. It wasn't home really, just a place to go.She looked across the street. A figure was turning the corner. Was that Roxas? Maybe.

She ran faster, the cold of night seeping into her skin, chilling her to the bone. But she didn't really care. She liked the cold. The colder she was, the less she thought about things. It numbed her, the friged chill. It froze her thoughts as well as her body.

But, today it wasn't cold enough to stop her racing thoughts, her deep pains. It was only cold enough to freeze the tips of her hot tears. She blew out a deep breath and stood still. Her breath billowed, like light smoke in front of her. She lifted her arms up, hugging them around her chest. Not as much to warm her, as to lessen the pain. It felt almost like someone else's arms where embracing her.

She raised her head heavenward. The sky was crystal-clear, the kind of icy clearity only found in the cold, far-off skies of winter. It felt like everything was so _big_ and she was just so...so..._small_. She wondered what Roxas was doing now. He was probably asleep. Just like everyone else.

She continued to walk. She thought of how Kairi had handled what the two of them had had to come through all these years.

Kairi was always so much stronger than she was. Though it all. Even when they had to leave the place they'd always known. When she'd have to leave her best friends and everything she'd ever known all behind her. Naminé always cried when the tears came to her eyes, but Kairi knew how to hold them back. Maybe she cried by herself, but never around Naminé. She wanted to be strong for her sister. Naminé tried, but she just couldn't figure out how to do it. Once she'd even asked Kairi how she was so strong. She'd just smiled sadly and said nothing. Nothing at all.

When she reached the door she heaved a large sigh of relife. She reached for her coat pocket and--

"Oh, great," she muttered. In her rush to get away, she'd left her jacket in the Coat room.  
She knocked on the door, praying Kairi was there.

"Hi Naminé," Kairi pulled the door open and stepped aside, so Naminé could enter. "Are you OK? You look terrible!" Kairi always understood when something was wrong with her. Though it must look pretty obvious to anyone that she was upset. So she quickly explained what happened.

Kairi was so strong, but she had a feeling that as Naminé cried into her shoulder, even Kairi had tears staining her pale cheeks. She didn't want to cry anymore, but she guessed she still had tears to cry. She didn't sleep a wink that night.

So instead, she laid out ideas for lessons. How to begin. What songs to start with.  
She carefully calculated what she was going to do. What was she going to do? She was bad at this.

Since she supposed Roxas knew next to nothing about playing the piano, she would have to start from the very, very begining.

In the morning, Naminéslipped into the Music Hall and waited for Roxas to show up.  
Vaguely, she wondered if he'd show up at all. But he did.

She killed the time before he came by playing away at the piano. A melody slid from under her fingertips. She only glanced at the sheet music only once. Treasured Memories. Yoko Shimomura. A favorite compositon of hers. It was so beautiful. A melody she'd played so many times, it swirlled and twittered though her head and slipped easily onto the piano. It lived and breathed on the piano, a melody that formed a story that played over and over again, time upon time, in Naminé. She loved it. And, for now it was the only sound that broke the still silence.

Untill Roxas entered. She composed herself quickly. She had teared up slightly as she became lost in song, lost in her memories, lost in herself. Naminé quickly pulled herself into reality.

She did not cease playing upon his arival.

"Treasured Memories." Roxas read aloud. Then he stuttered on. "It's such a-a-an.."

"I see you're here,"she laughed. She smiled up at him. Her smile was not a false one. She was truely happy. The sight of Roxas lifted her spirit. Something about him made her want to smile. That was stupid, she chidded herself. She barely knew him. She watched him quietly. He had the messiest hair she'd ever seen. His hair was a shade of sunshine-ray blonde, just a tad bit darker than than hers. He was pale, but not too much so. He looked nice and, at heart, he seemed a really great person.  
He smiled back at her, returning the smile she'd given him a second earlier.

She liked Roxas.

"So, where do we start? What are we going to work on today?"


	3. First Lesson

Roxas drousily pulled himself out of bed, resisting the urge to kill that infurnal alarm clock, and thus stop it's annoying buzzing. He stared blankly at the numbers. 6:03. 6:03! He had to get to the Music Hall! And fast! He quickly threw on the first clothing items he saw that were his, and bundled into his coat. He ran out the door, slamming it loudly behind him in his rush.

It seemed stupid to feel the need to get there exactly on time. But, if there was still time to make first impressions (can you still make first impressions the second time you meet someone?), he wanted to make them as good as he could. He wasn't one for punctuality, he was late most often to almost anything, but he didn't know if Naminé cared if he was late. He just wanted to be completely sure.

Roxas ran along the streets, the harsh morning wind cutting into his skin. Thank God, the Music Hall was close to the dorms. He reached the door and yanked it open. As he steped in, he was met with the most enchanting melody. It beautifully filled the rooms, drawing Roxas closer to the source.

Over the piano sat a figure playing away at the keys, releasing a sorowful, yet purely amazing song to the world. It seemed odd that he was one of the only people hearing it. Other people should be listening to it, it was so beautiful.

He walked over behind Naminé. He leaned closer to read the title of the song.

"Treasured Memories," he read aloud. It seemed to fit the music well.

Treasured Memories...of past...of good times...of times one wished were once more...mourning the loss of those treasured times. Keeping those treasured memories locked up in your heart...for fear of losing them. Losing all you had left of those times.

"It's such a-a-an..." Amazing wasn't quiet strong enough. Words failed Roxas, once again. He was such an idiot. Naminé laughed. Then again, he was an idiot that could make Naminé laugh. He was certain that was the best kind of idiot to be.

"I see you're hear." She laughed again, very soflty. She stopped playing, stopping in mid-note. Roxas missed the song already, but he knew they were going to have to get to work.

"So, where do we start? What are we going to work on today?" Roxas asked.

"Well," Naminé sighed deeply. Roxas saw deep purple-black shadows under Naminé's eyes. They stood out prominently on her pale face. She looked like she'd stayed up all night, and indeed, she probably had. "I suppose we should start with the basic scales."

He sat down on the bench next to Naminé. Naminé looked him up and down, then raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. He looked down. He was wearing a wrinkled red shirt and a smudgy, paint-stained pair of cream-colored pants. He'd helped to paint up a few wooden benches as a volenteer project last week and those had been the clothes he'd deemed unimportant enough to completely ruin. And he was wearing them _now. _

_Great going, Roxas..._

"Ah...ohhh...I was in a rush..-ahhh...and grabbed these." Roxas babbled embaressedly. "Darn it," he muttered under his breath.

"Well, passing that over, we should probably start. So. Here's one scale." Her fingers played across the keys in one fluid, graceful motion. Wow, even tired she could play almost effortlessly. He tried to repeat the motion, resulting in a string of sour notes. He breathed out in fustration.

"Just try again. Practice commits it to memory. Nobody can to it perfectly the first time. Also, it would be better if you knew exactly which keys to hit." Naminé encouraged.

He tried again, and again, and yet again, and again, Naminé singing along with each note. "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do."


	4. Real or not?

_I'm baaaack! As you already know, this fic is under major reconstruction. But you may also know that it is absolutely riddled with horrid spelling and a bunch of other mistakes. I finally have and now I may consider doing a better job correcting this. Man, if my English teacher saw this I'd be kicked out of the level six (highest possible level in my school. In other words, advanced placement.) lickedy-split. _

_I will not attempt to post a new chapter soon. There may still be some foreshadowing of the original ending here, but I'm not too sure how to end it now. The problem is, if I change the story, some of this chapter makes no sense. So, take this chapter with a grain of salt. _

_--_

_This is the third, and most certainly not last, correction of this atrocious piece of junk. I just hate this story so much. The writing is terrible, the plot trite and pulled off in a highly mediocre fashion. _

--

Naminé closed her eyes with a sigh of contentment. She felt happier than she'd been in the past years, maybe ever, even. It felt like she was drifting on air.

Maybe tonight she wouldn't lose another night of sleep to dark, frightening nightmares, and painful hours of what seemed endless tears and pain. She felt great today. Happy. She closed her eyes lightly and drifted off on a soft, feathery cloud of sleep to a world of rest and good dreams.

Or so she thought.

Nightmares were inescapable. They preyed upon her, those dark predators. They knew she was weak, easy to ensnare and tangle in their traps, and thus, they came to haunt her in her nocturnal hours. Darkness in darkness. Nightmares, as their name suggests, are horrors, terrible creatures of the night.

That's why she'd learned to sleep so much less. That's why she spent hours and hours with her music. To escape the darkness. The melodies piteously tried to protect her in the World of Nightmares, failing weakly. They spun in her head, trying to stop the dark from breaking and entering into her mind and driving her to madness in the infinite depths of the dark. They kept her sane, stopped the dark from reaching her mind and playing games with her head.

She also filled her waking hours with color and art. She often drew. She took multiple classes aimed at improving and honing her art skills. Naminé loved the colors, the way they all came together to create a whole other world. An amazing one. She could fill the paper with her emotions and feelings and ideas, and other people could see the beauty also. They could look at it and know how she felt, share it, even.

The colors were wondrous. A whole world of them. So many colors, such a vivid world it was. So awesome, and unbelievable...beyond her comprehension. So limitless. Naminé loved the colors, they were windows to so many things, possibilities. They portrayed all kinds of emotions. Colors made up the world.

Music and art. Simply Naminé trying to escape the dark from capturing her in it's evil clutches.

But, inevitably the shadows closed in on her.

Was this just another Nightmare? Or were the shadows really going to close in on her this time? Now?

The shadows pounced at her, assuming individual forms. She pulled out her weapon.

It was a long white blade, with gold trimmings along the side. A key chain dangled from a golden heart-shaped handle. The Key chain was a pair of angel wings. It felt strong, yet soft and protective. It was like a physical embodiment of a great light. It resonated a strong glow. This sword, this _Keyblade_, the internal voice that guided her through these dreams told her it was called, was an amazing sight. It was her strength, her light in this world of darkness.

She slashed at the shadows, and they dissipated as she struck them with her weapon. She wasn't one for violence, but the convulsed dream-logic told her this had to be done. It had to be done to save those in danger, those she loved and cared about more than anything. The shadows couldn't be saved now. Naminé thrashed forward. She reached the edge of their numbers, coming out into a corridor flooded in a blinding light, which was rather a contrast to that of the darkness of the last room.

Her immaculate white dress fanned behind her as she ran. Since when did she were a dress? Usually, it was a white sweater and pale jeans. But, this dream was nothing close to what was familar to her. Though she did like it. She always wore it in these dreams, it was something else familiar in this odd world. Or chain of worlds, who knew? It always seemed different, but...the same somehow. Connected by the fact that her mission was always the same: stop the darkness from taking over. And there was always the lingering feeling that she was looking for something. Something, or some one, she was never sure.

Her shadow trailed a deep black behind her. She reached a magnificent white door. A black shape leaped from the floor and stood in front of her, blocking the door. She turned a quick glance back to find that her shadow was absent from its place under her. This was the first time she'd looked down in the hall. The floor had a glassy sheen to it. It looked as if one step should shatter the glass and send her plummeting down unknown depths forever. She raised her head up to face the figure that had came from her own shadow.

It was a near replica of herself. Identical to her in every way, except that she (Naminé's replica, that is) was black as the night from her hair, to her dress and shoes and her eyes were a glowing yellow, piercing and dangerous. The Anti-Naminé struck, slashing at her, with her Anti-Wings of Light, or maybe it was called Wings of Darkness, as it was anti. Naminé didn't have long to ponder this, as the Anti-Naminé struck out again. She blocked her and pulled out some offensive moves of her own.

The anti version of herself matched her step for step, strike for strike. She slashed out with her Keyblade, getting blocked once again.

She had every ounce the skill Naminé had. And, she had to admit, she was a lot better than she'd thought.

She struck out with all her strength. And missed. Again.

Then it hit her. This definitely wasn't going to be of any use. Just hitting over and over again wasn't going to do anything. All it would do was weaken her, and she was already starting to feeling that. Tiring rapidly, Naminé wondered how much longer she'd last. She had to come up with something...and it would be preferable if that something came before she was dead.

_Turn on the Light._

Light! That was the answer. The Anti-Naminé was primarily composed of darkness. And, what do you do when it's dark? You turn on the light!

_The light sends darkness to the very edges of existence, crawling to it's dark corners._

Naminé mustered up her strength, drawing all the power -no the light- and concentrated on drawing it to the tips of Wings of Light.

_"Light!"_ She called and a beam of luminescent brilliance erupted from it's tip. The incandescent glow spread from top-to-bottom of her Keyblade. It emitted a soft glow as Naminé stared at it. Anti-Naminé slashed, aiming straight for her chest. Namine blocked it, and attacked, sending the light hurtling toward the Anti-Naminé. She dissipated,in a dark smoke, from the radiating beams.

She opened the door, into a large, high-ceilinged room. The numbers of shadows in this room were greater than any she'd ever seen. Though the room was in complete darkness, she could tell that there were hundreds from the malicious glow of their yellowed eyes.

_So many shadows, so little light._

Naminé was all alone. Just her, and so many to fight.

She felt so alone. So isolated. In these dreams it was always her fighting alone. It gave her the feeling that she was cut off from everyone else. She had to fend for herself- and her friends.

"We'll stop the Heartless together." A strong voice came from beside her, to her right.

What!? Some one was here! She wasn't alone in the dark anymore. Who was it? Who was here?

"Kairi?" Naminé asked in the pitch blackness.

"Uh-Huh, I'm here." Kairi's voice answered back. "And I brought a friend." She pointed over to Namine's left side.

_Roxas_. It least it looked like him. She couldn't see too well.

A hundred or so chandeliers burst to life. In the light the room looked rather like a fancy ballroom.

She looked in Roxas' direction. He smiled at her and began plowing through the ranks of Heartless in his path. Kairi immediately followed suit and began slashing at the shadows on Naminé's right.

She smiled back and rushed into battle. She spun, twisting from one opponent to another, in fluid, graceful strokes of Wings of Light. It was good to be fighting with, as well as for, those she cared about. Her two favorite people in the world.

It felt like they were one strength. One burning light coming together to rid the worlds of the Dark. She felt like they were invincible, like they could do anything. Like they could save the world single-handedly.  
Everything would be okay. No matter what, it would end up alright in the end.

They were together. In-tune.

_What would I do without them?_ She wondered, reflecting on the slightest possibility that they might not be invincible. They were all in danger. Naminé hoped she wouldn't be finding out just how mortal each of them were tonight. She was starting to doubt that they could possibly make it through this room unscathed.

Cuts and bruises started to build up along Naminé's arms and legs. It was starting to be a labor to simply swing her blade in a simple slash. Her strength was rather ungracefully ebbing away.

_**GIVE UP**_**,** The voice advised. _**You aren't strong enough. You can't make it.**_ It taunted her. Surely this wasn't the same voice that had advised her. No it wasn't. It was another voice. The dark.

_**Just give up and have a rest, it's only a dream, anyway.**_

_"HEAL!"_ She yelled, plunging Wings of Light into the air. It glowed green. Naminé felt her strength renewing. She glanced over toward the others.

Naminé looked over at Roxas struggling with a figure larger than the rest of them. The figure slashed at his arm and Roxas' weapon (a Keyblade of his own) was flung into the air, far out of his grasp. It fell with a clash-thud upon the stone floor.

Roxas reached feebly for his Keyblade, stretching his arm as far as it would go. The figure took this time to strike. He swung his weapon back and-

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Naminé cried out. She ran forward toward

No, no, no, NO!! It didn't happen. It didn't. It didn't. That wasn't real. Just a dream, just a dream. Wake up, **WAKE UP!**

"That wasn't real, he isn't--" She denied, pushing toward Roxas.

_That didn't happen. _

_**But, it did. **_

The shadow lifted his sword into the air...and...and--and

The shadow had (did she dare to even think of it?)...

Roxas was stabbed straight through the heart. He couldn't have possibly lived through that. No, it wasn't possible, but, he had to have survived. He just had to.

Naminé finally reached him. He looked up at her. Roxas smiled sadly and fell forward, disintegrating into a thousand gold sparkles.

Naminé stood still, her hands held out in front of her (she had been trying to catch him).

The figure grinned malevolently at her and faded into the surrounding darkness.

Naminé ran. That was all she could think of. She just ran. Straight through the masses of Heartless. Running and running. She wanted to scream, to cry, but this place wouldn't let her. She couldn't do anything, but run. She never did anything but that. She was always running. Couldn't she ever be strong?

But...but...this was her worst nightmare. Some one she loved dearly being hurt- no killed, it wasn't likely for anyone to be able to live through that- and her powerless to do anything. She felt so weak, if she'd only been a fraction of a second quicker she could have done something. Now, she couldn't do anything. Roxas was...dead.

There she said (or in this case, thought) it. Dead. And she couldn't do anything about it.

She tugged open the large wooden doors at the end of the room.

Naminé advanced forward into another long hall, but this time it was more open. On the other side of the hall was...yet _another_ door. What was with this place and doors!?

Naminé squinted, the door, it seemed was radiating a brilliant light. And, in the midst of the light was- no it couldn't be- ROXAS?

"Roxas!?" She cried out, running toward the light, toward Roxas.

He turned around. He smiled, a small sad smile. He turned back around to face the door.  
He tugged open the handle in one fluid motion.

"Wait!" Naminé yelled out. He looked at her over his shoulder. "Roxas? Is that you?" She questioned. It obviously wasn't Roxas. He didn't even look like Roxas anymore. Dream-logic was something that you just could not question. But she couldn't help it. It was all so confusing.

He looked at her sadly.

"Kairi?" He looked so sorrowful. In so much anguish. Naminé couldn't quite place a finger on who he was...but she knew him from somewhere. He was so familiar, and it seemed he knew Kairi. Or at least her name.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He shook his head with a melancholy air. His hair was a light golden-brown. His eyes were a brilliant shade of afternoon sky blue. In the bright light, Naminé could see a silver streak sliding down the side of his cheek.

"No," she shook her head.

"You don't remember the Fantastic Sora?" He tried to put a little edge of childish grandeur, as he spoke these words.

"Wait!" Sora! How could she forget him?

Her sister's best friend, always kind and joking when some one needed to be cheered up. He was like a cheerful beckon of light. His smile was a shadow of what it used to be. He seemed so different now_...BROKEN_. Faking a smile that was absolutely pathetic compared to his old one.

"Sora I remember you, I remember." She looked at him. He nodded back at her.

"OK. That makes it a little easier. I really was worried you'd really forgotten." Again he tried that  
false smile.

He started to turn around. He faced her one last time.

"Tell Kairi I really miss her a lot. I miss her so much. Tell her I love her. And always will." Sora turned away and Roxas reappeared.

"What just-?" Naminé was really lost now.

"Sorry, but it looks like I gotta go. Sorry." He turned away and dissipated in the light of the doorway.

Naminé woke up with a pang of sorrow. She felt a hot wetness saturating her cheeks. She also felt the sudden urge to draw.

She slid out of her bed. She fumbled with her bag, and after a few minutes of struggling though it, she found her sketch book. Namine opened to a crisply blank light. She wandered over to the window and sat under it to draw in the silver strips of moonlight filtering in from it.

Naminé drew first the most clear image in her mind. Roxas at the door. She started with the basic outline of his face and body, leaning to the door, but facing her. The main outline took about ten to fifteen minutes, then she started to fill in the small details. The image in her mind was so clear. All the little details came to her. A lot of them were pretty complicated, but it was there in her head, and surprisingly even all those little details were up there. Then, she started Sora.

Kairi stirred in her bed. She stared at Naminé. And then at the digital clock. 2:42.

"Are you OK?" Kairi asked, concerned. She walked over to Naminé and looked over her shoulder at the half-finished drawing.

Kairi began to convulse in violent, shaky sobbs.

"'Tell her I love her, and always will.'" She whispered. "Oh, Sora." Kairi wailed quietly.

Naminé had never seen Kairi like this. She'd never out-and-out cried in front of Naminé. Kairi just broke down. She slid to the floor beside Naminé.

"S'all right." Naminé whispered gently, wrapping her arm around Kairi's shoulders. She didn't know what else to do to comfort her.

Kairi just stared at the drawing and cried heavily. Eventually, she shrugged off Naminé's  
arm and silently slinked over to her bed and plopped down, covering herself with her blanket.

Naminé couldn't be sure, but she figured that Kairi must have been asleep, because her chest was falling and rising at a steady pace, underneath her blanket. All in all, she seemed far more calm than when she was staring, raked with sobs and choked by tears, at Naminé's drawing.

Within a few hours, just as the sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon, shedding daylight across the room, she finished up on Sora and started a new picture.

A picture far more vivid in her mind. Far more painful. A black sword stabbed straight through some one's heart.

Roxas. She should have done something. But she couldn't do anything.

Naminé remembered what her mom used to tell her when she was little and had woken up crying from a nightmare.

_"It was only a dream."_

Just a dream, just a dream.

She laid her drawings down and slumped into her bed.

Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, she chanted to herself.

_Just a dream._


End file.
